Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 1.djvu/86

54 people forget; scatter them by thy power. Had Cain been slain immediately, he had been forgotten, Eccl. 8. 10; but now he lives, a more fearful and lasting monument of God's justice, hanged in chains, as it were. 2. How he is marked in wrath; The Lord set a mark upon Cain, to distinguish him from the rest of mankind, and to notify that he was the man that murdered his brother, whom nobody must hurt, but every body must hoot at. God stigmatized him, (as some malefactors are burnt in the cheek,) and put upon him such a visible and indelible mark of infamy and disgrace, as would make all wise people shun him, so that he could not be otherwise than a fugitive and a vagabond, and the offscouring of all things.

16. And Cain went out from the presence of the, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. 17. And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. 18. And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.

We have here a further account of Cain, and what became of him after he was rejected of God.

I. He tamely submitted to that part of his sentence, by which he was hid from God's face. For, (v. 16.) he went out from the presence of the Lord, that is, he willingly renounced God and religion, and was content to forego the privileges, so that he might not be under its precepts. He forsook Adam's family and altar, and cast off all pretensions to the fear of God, and never came among good people, nor attended on God's ordinances, any more. Note, Hypocritical professors, that have dissembled and trifled with God Almighty, are justly left to themselves, to do something that is grossly scandalous, and so throw off that form of godliness which they have been a reproach to, and under colour of which they have denied the power of it. Cain went out now from the presence of the Lord, and we never find that he came into it again, to his comfort. Hell is destruction from the presence of the Lord, 2 Thes. 1. 9. It is a perpetual banishment from the fountain of all good. This is the choice of sinners; and so shall their doom be, to their eternal confusion.

II. He endeavoured to confront that part of the sentence by which he was made a fugitive and a vagabond, for,

1. He chose his land. He went and dwelt on the east of Eden, somewhere distant from the place where Adam and his religious family resided, distinguishing himself and his accursed generation from the holy seed, his camp from the camp of the saints and the beloved city, Rev. 20. 9. On the east of Eden, the cherubim were, with the flaming sword; ch. 3. 24. there he chose his lot, as if to defy the terrors of the Lord. But his attempt to settle was in vain; for the land he dwelt in, was to him the land of Nod, that is, shaking, or trembling, because of the continual restlessness and uneasiness of his own spirit. Note, Those that depart from God, cannot find rest any where else. When Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, he never rested after. Those that shut themselves out of Heaven, abandon themselves to a perpetual trembling; "Return therefore to thy rest, O my soul, to thy rest in God; else thou art for ever restless."

2. He builded him a city for a habitation, v. 17. He was building a city, so some read it, ever building it, but, a curse being upon him and the work of his hands, he could not finish it. Or, as we read it, he builded a city, in token of a fixed separation from the church of God, to which he had no thoughts of ever returning. This city was to be the head quarters of the apostasy. Observe here, (1.) Cain's defiance of the divine sentence. God said he should be a fugitive and a vagabond; had he repented and humbled himself, that curse might have turned into a blessing, as that of the tribe of Levi was, that they should be divided in Jacob, and scattered in Israel; but his impenitent unhumbled heart walking contrary to God, and resolving to fix, in spite of heaven, that which might have been a blessing, turned into a curse. (2.) See what was Cain's choice, after he had forsaken God; he pitched upon a settlement in this world, as his rest for ever. They who looked for the heavenly city, on earth, chose to dwell in tabernacles; but Cain, as one that minded not that city, built him one on earth. They that are cursed of God, are apt to seek their settlement and satisfaction here below, Ps. 17. 14. (3.) See what method Cain took to defend himself against the terrors with which he was perpetually haunted. He undertook this building, to divert his thoughts from the consideration of his own misery, and to drown the clamours of a guilty conscience with the noise of axes and hammers. Thus many baffle their convictions, by thrusting themselves into a hurry of worldly business. (4.) See how wicked people often get the start of God's people, and out-go them in outward prosperity. Cain and his cursed race dwell in a city, while Adam and his blessed family dwell in tents; we cannot judge of love or hatred by all that is before us, Eccl. 9. 1, 2.

3. His family was also built up. Here is an account of his posterity, at least, the heirs of his family, for seven generations. His son was Enoch; of the same name, but not of the same character, with that holy man that walked with God, ch. 5. 22. Good men and bad may bear the same names; but God can distinguish between Judas Iscariot, and Judas not Iscariot, John 14. 22. The names of more of his posterity are mentioned, and but just mentioned; not as those of the holy seed, ch. 5, where we have three verses concerning each, whereas here we have three or four in one verse. They are numbered in haste, as not valued or delighted in, in comparison with God's chosen.

19. And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20. And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. 21. And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. 22. And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

We have here some particulars concerning Lamech, the seventh from Adam in the line of Cain. Observe,

I. His marrying of two wives. It was one of the degenerate race of Cain, who first transgressed that original law of marriage, that two only should be one flesh. Hitherto, one man had but one wife at a time; but Lamech took two. From the beginning it was not so, Mal. 2. 15. Matth. 19. 5. See here, 1. That those who desert God's church and ordinances, lay themselves open to all manner of temptation. 2. That when a bad custom is begun by bad men, sometimes men of better characters are